Best air purifiers for cat allergies and cat smells

Our furry friends can mean more dander, fluff and fur in the home which can mean an increase in gathered dust and hair which is often breathed in.

Breathing in cat hair can lead to coughing, poor sleep and skin irritation. An effective air purifier can help tackle the common challenges owning a cat can provide.

Cats are also unfortunately the cause of skin conditions, allergies and unwanted smells due to stinky litter trays, cat food and even captured prey!

This content will help showcase how an air purifier can be used to ensure your relationship with your cat or cats is a healthy one for everyone involved.

Here are our top air purifiers for cat owners who are looking to remove odors, excess cat hair and clean the air of their home.

Our selection includes a solid all-rounder option, the best in class pet specific air purifier, an incredibly powerful choice and finally a sleek and stylish option for the discerning pet owner.

Hopefully these choices represents something suitable for all budgets and needs!

Top choice – best all rounder cat purifier – Alen BreatheSmart Flex

The Alen BreatheSmart Flex is our choice for best all round cat air purifier. The BreatheSmart has smoke and odor specific filters options which are designed to tackle pet and cat odors. This purifier is the best option for someone looking for a versatile, effective and affordable option from a well respected brand who specialise in air purification!

Top features

• 2 easy filter options – dust, mold, pet odors or PLUS smoke
• Comforting pink noise generator and sleep mode for night-time use
• Cleans up to 700 Square Feet 2 times per hour
• Wide selection of colorful panel covers to choose from
• Versatile and can be used in wide variety of rooms

Best for pet odors – ultimate pet purifier – Winix HR900

The Winix HR900 is the ultimate air purifier for pet owners, boasting a five stage air purification process complete with washable pre-filter. The HR900 is the next generation of the wildly popular Winix 9500 Ultimate Pet Air Purifier.
This purifier is capable of capturing pet hair, dander and airborne particles in spaces up to 300 square feet.
This is a great option for a cat owner as the HR900 is the ultimate pet purifier. Designed from the ground up to tackle pet ownership issues like animal smells, excess hair, dander and fur plus an intensive five stage air purification process which uses washable pre-filters which help to extend the life the True HEPA filter.

Top features

• Loved by pet owners in customer reviews
• Pet specific air purifier – 5 stage purification process
• Washable pre-filter extends the life of your filter by capturing pet hair
• Activated carbon filter for odor elimination
• Washable Advanced Odor Control (AOCTM) Carbon Filter

High powered cat allergy relief – Coway Airmega 400

The Coway Airmega 400 is an incredibly powerful air purifier which is capable of removing cat odors and cat hair from spaces up to 1,560 square feet!
This monster of an air purification device is packed full of advanced smart features like auto fan speed selection and air quality monitoring. However it stills creates a max noise level of a surprisingly low 43.2 decibels and uses only 64 watts.
The Airmega 400 is a great option for someone who owns a few cats and has issues with cat hair or smells which require a powerful and robust solution!

Top features

• Capable of changing 1,560 feet of air twice in one hour
• Five fan modes and speeds
• Auto air quality detection and sensor
• Powerful dual suction design
• Washable pre-filter to help extend HEPA filter lifetime

Versatile, sleek design and fun – RabbitAir MinusA2

The RabbitAir MinusA2 is an ultra quiet, stylish and versatile air purifier which would improve the look and feel of most modern households.
The purifier can be wall mounted and boasts an in-depth six stage air purification process, which makes use of activated carbon to remove even the most stubborn of cat smells and hair.
This versatile but smart purifier can change the air in rooms of up to 700 square feet, two times an hour!
This purifier is a good option for a cat owner who places a high level of value on design and aesthetics.
This unit can be seamlessly integrated into most settings and will deliver a noticeable difference in terms of air quality and cat hair removal.

• Specific pet allergens filter – designed trapping and reduces pet dander, pet allergens
• Advanced six stage purification process
• Cool range of covers – including Hello Kitty and Peanuts designs
• Adaptable due to auto modes
• Energy star rated

Having a or several cats in your home can mean unwanted side effects including but not limited to the following:

Dander, hair, fur causing breathing issues
Even if a cat’s hair is combed regularly fur, dander and fluff can still gather in your home and be present in the air in higher levels than home without a feline friend.
If left unmanaged this fur and hair can settle and collect in hard to clean locations, which mean more germs in your home or worse can float in the air only to be breathed in and giving extra work for your lung.
An air purifier can grab cat hair from the air of a room and filter it out before pumping new fresh air into the room.

Cat allergies
Cat allergies can come in various levels of severity and seriousness from mild irritation to causing breathing issues, skin conditions and sinus issues.
Some people with mild cat allergies have found that an air purifier can lessen the impact of their allergy and make living with a cat possible.
Depending on the severity of your pet allergy you may be able to medicate and use air treatment products to make life with a cat possible.
It make sense that an air purifier can help with cat allergies as dust specific pre-filters can catch cat hair from the air and mean less work for your lungs. Also purifiers can prevent the collection of cat hair which increase germ presence in a home.
This removal or limiting of germs can mean a decrease in symptoms of cat allergies like skin conditions or sneezing.

Smells – urine, litter tray, food etc.
It’s an unavoidable fact that cats mean new smells in a home. From urine and cat poop in kitty litter trays to pungent smells from cat foods.
These smells can be challenging from cat owners and if left unmanaged can reach all areas of your home.
Again, an air purifier can help via the use of an activated carbon filter which absorbs smells from rooms prior to air being cleaned.
These carbon filters are incredibly effective at capturing unwanted smells and can make the difference between a smelly home and one full of fresh clean smelling air.
This feature is particularly useful if you have multiple cats as smells will be magnified.
The trouble with cat ownership smells is if you are in your home a lot you become accustomed to the everyday smells and their impact become lessened.
However, when someone new comes into your home the smells can be quite strong!

Cat hair on clothes and fabrics
Even if cats have their fur cleaned and brushed regularly a certain amount of fur will molt and get onto clothes and fabrics around the home like sofas, throws, bedding and cushions.
If this hair is left to gather it will become a heaven for germs and become unclean.
Whilst an air purifier will not tackle hair which has already settled it will remove the car hair from a rooms air.
If you have an air purifier running when cleaning existing cat hair this will mean any cat hair which is disturbed during cleaning will be pushed into the air and then caught by the air purifier.

Skin irritation – washing hands frequently (after stroking cat)
Some cat owners find that they develop skin conditions from living with a cat either due to the cat itself or frequent washing of hands after stroking their cat.
Skin irritations are a tricky thing to live with as they affect you most of the day and can be painful if left untreated. Also, if left to develop can lead to more serious issues like infection.
Whilst an air purifier won’t directly solve skin irritation as a result of cat ownership, they will work to remove the cat hair from the air of your home which would have otherwise settled and result in a skin complaints.

So it’s clear to see that there are a number of ways which an air purifier can positively impact of cat ownership!

Living with multiple cats
People who love cats often have more than one and often lots of cats so they can keep each other company.
Living in a home with more than one cat in residence can present specific issues from more cat hair in the air and on fabrics around the house to extra smells from multiple litter trays and cat bowls.
Generally, in terms of air treatment, the advice for living with multiple cats is the same as living with one furry friend.
However, you may want to invest in a more powerful air purification device or multiple air purifiers so you can place units in different rooms around your home especially in areas which your cats commonly hang out in.

There are a number of ways the impact and symptoms of cat allergies can be reduced including frequent cleaning of your home to stay on top of levels of cat hair and dust, to restricting your cat’s access to certain areas of the home.

The below list presents some ideas for how to reduce the impact of cat or pet allergies in your home:

• don’t allow your cats into the bedroom to reduce cat hair which is breathed in at night
• regularly clean areas where cats sleep to keep cat hair levels to a minimum
• frequently clean household fabrics, sofas, cushions and throws which can collect cat hair
• dust on a weekly basis to reduce the level of dust and cat hair build up
• brush your cat’s hair regularly to reduce the level of loose hair making its way into air of rooms
• wipe down and clean feeding areas for cats on a frequent basis to limit build-up of food debris
• change cat litter trays and sand regularly to avoid smells building and worsening

Purifiers can help with the common issues which come hand in hand with cat ownership in a number of ways including the following:

1. Work to improve air quality
By removing cat hair and smells from the air in the rooms of your home. Air is easy to breathe less labor intensive for your lungs to filter and your home will suffer from less smells.

2. Remove hair and fur from the air – especially after brushing
Purifiers will remove the dust and cat hair or fur which is currently in the air and overtime, reduce the amounts of cat hair which builds up over time. This will mean less cat hair is breathed in by people in your home and less cat hair settling and thus being allowed to collect pockets of germs and smells.
All with the pleasant benefit of a new supply of fresh clean air to breathe in!

3. Remove smells – litter, food and urine
There’s no two ways about it cats generate smells and an air purifier will reduce or remove the common smells which are part of cat ownership like kitty litter trays, urine, cat poop and strong cat food smells.
Using an air purifier fitted with a activated carbon filter will filter out smells from the air of your home which is a plus for those living in your home, visitors and your cats!

4. Less cat hair on clothes
Another downside to owning cats is getting cat hair and fur build up on your clothes. Using an air purifier to capture excess cat hair from a rooms air will ultimately mean less cat hair makes its way onto your clothes which means easier cleaning of clothes and less washing!

When choosing an air purifier to tackle cat hair or smells you will need to look out for the following features:

Activated carbon or separate filter
Highly important when choosing a cat friendly air purifier as the carbon filter will be a key ally in the battle against cat smells.
Choosing a purifier which has a separate carbon pre-filter which remove dust and smells before air is passed through the Ture HEPA filter will help to extend the lifecycle of your main HEPA filter.

True HEPA filter
Only buy purifiers with True HEPA filters to be assured of quality and efficiency of the purifier unit.

Purifiers which use a true HEPA are the only devices that are certified to capture 99.97% of particles as small as 0.3 microns in size. This includes all types of dust particles and even dust mites, hair and airborne debris of all types.

Washable filters
Washable filter and pre filters are a great way to extend the life of your HEPA filter and can often mean higher efficiency in dealing with hair, dust and airborne debris.

Portability
You may want to move your purifier around the different rooms of your home so it important to choose a purifier which can easily be moved to different rooms and tackle cat smells or high levels of cat hair on a priority basis. If you choose a big bulky purifier which is difficult to move or even lift then it will only be able to clean the air of the room which it’s located in!
Most modern purifiers are light, small and very portable so can quickly be relocated to new rooms based on your changing needs!

Room capability CADR
Look for a purifier which boasts high CADR rating as this will mean the purifier can work quickly to change and cycle the air of the rooms in your home. The higher the CADR level to more powerful the air purifier.

Although an air purifier is a great tool in the battle against cat odors you can take several steps in your home to lessen the workload for your purifier including the following:

• Change your cat’s tray regularly
• Brush cat fur frequently
• Lint roll clothes to tackle cat dander
• Restrict cat access to bedrooms and sleeping areas
• Set up a sleeping area for the cats
• Vacuum regularly to tackle hair buildup

Are air purifiers safe for cats?
Yes, purifiers are perfectly safe for humans and cats!

Can air purifiers remove cat dander?
From the air yes, from the ground and fabrics of your home, no.

Do air purifiers work for cat smell?
Yes, an air purifier with an activated carbon filter will remove all types of cat smells from your home

What is the best air purifier for cat allergies?
One with an activated carbon filter, high CADR and multiple fan speeds.

Can air purifiers remove cat litter smell?
Yes, if placed near your cat litter tray a purifier fitted with an activated carbon filter will help to lessen or remove cat little smells.

Can air purifiers remove cat urine smell?
Yes, if the purifier has an activated carbon filter and is placed near common smells from your cat’s urine. However, be sure to first clean the area to avoid buildup of germs!

Hopefully this guide has provided lots of ideas and reasons for why an air purifier is a great tool for tackling the common issues of cat ownership from filtering out cat hair in the air of your home to removing common cat smells and all with the pleasant added benefit of fresh clean air to breathe in!